In endoscopic procedures including, for example, endoscopic retrograde pancreatography (ERCP) procedures and natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery procedures, there is often a need for a physician to stabilize and/or retract tissue. This is often true in techniques where ultrasound visualization is being used and/or when other tools are to be introduced to and used in/on a target site. Various retractor devices have been used in open surgical procedures that are not readily adaptable to minimally invasive (e.g., endoscopic) surgical procedures.
There is a need to provide tools useful for retracting and/or stabilizing tissue during endoscopic surgical procedures, and particularly tools that may be deployed through the working channel of an endoscope (herein used generically to encompass endoscopes such as gastroscopes, duodenoscopes, laparoscopes, and other surgical visualization or ancillary devices used during minimally invasive surgical procedures).